I think it highly likely that many of us don't know our true role in the kingdom. It appears to me that we're somehow in process on this, and not in any long-term, set format just yet. I mean, come on, it's too convenient, way too convenient, to have this thing waiting there in the wings so that you can simply say, "That's not my role" when things get uncomfortable.
That's like me saying, "Avoid chips and dips? That's not my role!" anytime the nachos come rolling around.
How's it any different from "that's not my gift?"
It's really easy for your conception of "your role" to be exactly the same thing as "your comfort zone."
I think about the King's X song "We Are Finding Who We Are." That's a much better way of putting it.
What about finding our persons of peace? We have to get out there and engage with some people, and see who responds in an open and friendly manner. We don't need to pick and choose who we're going to engage with, just get started and keep going until someone proves himself a person of peace.
A person I think well of said something that I found troubling. He talked about living in his world, and what it consisted of. No doubt, he thinks of it as rich and varied. I'm sure that it is. Then he talked about a hypothetical person he might come into contact with. "All this guy wants is to get off work, get a couple of beers, and go fishing. We don't live in the same world. I would have to pretend to be something I'm not to interact with this guy."
I was surprised at what I heard. This was hate in action, and my friend was completely unaware of the problem. He saw his life as rich and varied. He saw the other guy's life as containing only two elements. How accurate do you think that really is? I don't think he even saw it as being all that accurate, but only as sufficient justification to cross that guy off his list as a potential person of peace. But a simple hello could lead to several common elements. Maybe they like the same baseball team. Maybe they like a couple of the same shows. Maybe they have some common acquaintances, or they both like to play "Gardens of Time" on Facebook. Maybe they both had a really tough football coach that they wound up being really close to.
Endless possibilities, but shut off, denied purchase in the here and now because "knowing my role" was a convenient excuse. It becomes a repackaged caste system where I don't have to talk to someone if I can make a case for pigeon-holing them.
